354

TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 88. 1839.

No person tobe debarredfrom receiving apatent, &c.

Proviso.

Proviso.

Persons, &c.having purchas-ed or construct-ed any newlyinvented ma-chine, &e.

So much of11th sec, act 4thJuly 1836, ch.357, as requirespayment for re-cording assign-ments, repeal-ed.

Agriculturalstatistics, &c.

Provisions 16thsec. act4th July1836, ch. 357,extended.

Appeals.

lars be appropriated from the patent fund, to be expended under thedirection of the Commissioner, for the purchase of necessary books forthe library of the Patent Office . *

Sec. 6 . And be it further enacted, That no person shall be de-barred from receiving a patent for any invention or discovery, as pro-vided in the act approved on the fourth day of July, one thousand eighthundred and thirty-six, to which this is additional, by reason of thesame having been patented in a foreign country more than six monthsprior to his application: Provided, That the same shall not have beenintroduced into public and common use in the United States , prior tothe application for such patent: And provided, also, That in all casesevery such patent shall be limited to the term of fourteen years from thedate or publication of such foreign letters patent.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That every person or corporationwho has, or shall have, purchased or constructed any newly inventedmachine, manufacture, or composition of matter, prior to the applica-tion by the inventor or discoverer for a patent, shall be held to possessthe right to use, and vend to others to be used, the specific machine,manufacture, or composition of matter so made or purchased, withoutliability therefor to the inventor, or any other person interested in suchinvention ; and no patent shall be held to be invalid by reason of suchpurchase, sale, or use prior to the application for a patent as aforesaid,except on proof of abandonment of such invention to the public; orthat such purchase, sale, or prior use has been for more than two yearsprior to such application for a patent.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That so much of the eleventh sec-tion of the above recited act as requires the payment of three dollarsto the Commissioner of Patents for recording any assignment, grant, orconveyance of the whole or any part of the interest or right under anypatent, be, and the same is hereby, repealed ; and all such assignments,grants, and conveyances shall, in future, be recorded without any chargewhatever.

Sec. 9. And he it further enacted, That a sum of money not exceed-ing one thousand dollars, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, outof the patent fund, to be expended by the Commissioner of Patents inthe collection of agricultural statistics, and for other agricultural pur-poses ; for which the said Commissioner shall account in his next an-nual report.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That the provisions of the six-teenth section of the before recited act shall extend to all cases wherepatents are refused for any reason whatever, either by the Commissionerof Patents or by the chief justice of the District of Columbia , uponappeals from the decision of said Commissioner, as well as where the.same shall have been refused on account of, or by reason of, interferencewith a previously existing patent; and in all cases where there is noopposing party, a copy of the bill shall be served upon the Commis-sioner of Patents, when the whole of the expenses of the proceedingshall be paid by the applicant, whether the final decision shall be in hisfavor or otherwise.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where an appealis now allowed by law from the decision of the Commissioner of Patentsto a board of examiners provided for in the seventh section of the actto which this is additional, the party, instead thereof, shall have a rightto appeal to the chief justice of the district court of the United States for the District of Columbia , by giving notice thereof to the Commis-sioner, and filing in the Patent Office , within such time as the Commis-sioner shall appoint, his reasons of appeal, specifically set forth in writ-ing, and also paying into the Patent Office , to the credit of the patentfund, the sum of twenty-five dollars. And it shall be the duty of said